Camellia's Black Blossom
by Tsuki Ushio
Summary: Tsubaki wants to tell Black Star that she loves him but she doesn't know how to. Will she ever be able to tell him? Black Star's being oblivious as always though. Will he understand what she's trying to tell him? How will their story end? Tears or smiles?
1. Innocent

** Chapter 1: Innocent**

"Class dismissed," Stein-sensei said as he turned around and rolled back to his desk on his office chair. "Make sure that you clean up. I'm not your mother so make sure everything is put away," and he went back to looking through papers he needed to grade.

All of the Shibusen students gathered up their experiment items and wandered around the room gradually putting items in their respective places. The tables little by little cleared of scalpels, Petri dishes, and frog innards. The smell of formaldehyde ever so slowly was leaking out of the room. A couple of students had opened the windows and the door about twenty minutes ago because people were beginning to get sick from the smell. When all of the dissecting items were in their places the students collected their bags and headed out of the classroom; they didn't have to smell or see the horrid corpses of frogs for the rest of the day. Maka Albarn, one of the smartest kids in the entire class, packed up her bag as she made sure that she had all of her books together and stood up to head home. Just as she was about to step away from her seat and head home she heard someone speak to her.

"Um...Maka-chan?" a timid-like voice called from behind her.

Maka turned around and saw Tsubaki Nakatsukasa looking down at her from the row above her. She looked almost uncomfortable as she stood there silently in her thoughts. Her dark eyes were shifting back and forth as if she was expecting someone to jump up unexpectedly behind her. Her shoulders were practically touching her ears as she nervously twiddled her fingers. Maka saw Tsubaki's school bag hanging from one of her shoulders ready to go at anytime. She seemed as if she were in a horror film and she was going to be the first victim.

"Tsubaki-chan? Is something wrong?" Maka asked her concerned. Tsubaki appeared frightened of something or another.

"N-no, nothing's wrong. I uh...C-could I talk to you for a second?" Tsubaki stuttered uneasily.

Maka was a bit surprised but she nodded and they headed to the wide hallway of the school. All of the students should've been gone by that time so they should have a bit of privacy away from both students and teachers. They stopped just outside the doorway to talk.

"So what is it that you need, Tsubaki-chan?" Maka asked as she leaned against the wall.

"Well, uh, I need some…advice about...something," she replied hesitantly.

"Advice? What about?" Maka asked. She was a bit troubled about her. Tsubaki didn't usually come to talk to her like this, not unless Black Star and Soul have gotten in trouble again. The other thing was that she'd just tell her up front about the two troublemakers. Tsubaki's eyes kept shifting back and forth from Maka to the floor, then the wall and back. She also hadn't stopped twiddling her fingers, actually, it seemed like she was twiddling them even more than before. It was Tsubaki's behavior that was making her worry.

"Well, it's about, um, Black Star..." Tsubaki said.

Maka sighed, "What trouble did he get into this time?"

"No, no! That's not what it is," she said almost hysterically, "It's...something else,"

Maka jerked her head up in surprise. "Something else? What happened then?" she asked confused. Black Star is always getting into trouble some way whether alone or with Soul. She figured he and Soul did something yet again and that's why Tsubaki wanted to talk to her but apparently that wasn't the case. Something was obviously bothering her; Tsubaki is more on the quiet side but she's not really timid or stuttering like she is now.

"Black Star didn't do anything wrong...It's just, uh..."

"…Tsubaki-chan? Would you like to talk somewhere else? You seem to be really nervous about this. And I have a feeling that this might take a while. How about we go outside? It's really nice today,"

Tsubaki almost jumped in surprise but relaxed immediately and nodded. She knew that talking to Maka was a good idea. They walked together to a big shady tree that was in front of the school. As they walked Tsubaki took a great deal of time attempting to find the right words for what she wanted to say. She didn't quite know how to word her predicament correctly. Every time she went over it in her head it just sounded wrong to her. They arrived within minutes, giving Tsubaki not much time at all to come up with a clear sentence.

The two girls placed their bags against the base of the tree. Maka sat with her legs off to one side since she was wearing her skirt. Tsubaki sat, stiffly, on her knees, as she has been taught since she was a child, facing her advisor. The wind was a slight breeze, just barely strong enough to move the leaves on the tree. All around, it was peaceful.

"So, what do you need advice about, Tsubaki-chan?" Maka asked curiously. The whole way to the tree, Maka tried to figure out what Tsubaki wanted to tell her. It had something to do with Black Star; she obviously knew that, however that could mean anything. The two had been partners since Tsubaki had arrived at Shibusen not too long ago; but they were pretty much inseparable. _Is something wrong with Black Star? Maybe…Maybe Tsubaki wants to change meisters! She would be nervous about admitting that. I don't blame her either. I'd probably want to change meisters if I had one like him…_

"Um, there's something that I want to tell Black Star…but…I don't know how to say it…" she replied quietly. Her cheeks were starting to turn a bright red. "I was thinking…maybe you could help me figure out how to tell him…"

_I think I'm right. She's embarrassed about it. Black Star just really isn't suited to fit anyone. Tsubaki changes her soulwave to match his so they can work together in the first place. He is really irritating too. He hasn't even been able to get any souls for Tsubaki, _Maka thought. But just to make sure she wasn't wrong for some reason she asked, "What is it that you want to tell him?"

Tsubaki was quiet for a little bit. She slightly started fidgeting in her seat as if she were suddenly uncomfortable in that spot. She had also started nipping at her bottom lip while she spoke. "Well, uh…you see…" Her face started turning brighter and brighter red. She was having trouble figuring out just how to say to out loud. Usually she was the one being told this kind of thing; she was usually the advisor. She's kind of like the older sister to everyone else. It was quite odd for her to be in the opposite position.

"Tsubaki-chan, it's alright. You can tell me anything. We're friends after all," Maka assured her. Maka had leaned forward and put a hand on Tsubaki's shoulder as she gave her an encouraging smile. "Don't worry, I've got your back," She wanted Tsubaki to be able to tell her so that she would be able to clarify her thoughts. She really did consider Tsubaki her friend. Tsubaki nodded and took a breath.

"Maka-chan…I…well…I think I like Black Star," she finally said. THUNK! A large object had landed hard on the tree, surprising both girls right out of their seats. The object had coming hurling from Maka's right-hand side. Tsubaki fell onto her behind while Maka fell backwards.

It smacked into the tree head on and slowly slid down. A boy with blue spiked hair fell onto his back when he hit the very base of the thick tree. After a stunned second, the boy jumped up and struck a pose, pointing to the sky.

"Behold! God has entered the scene!" He yelled with an immensely confident smirk on his face.

"Black Star! You idiot! What are you doing?" Maka yelled as she jumped up from her seat. Her legs were apart and both hands were on her hips.

"Huh? Oh, hi Maka! When did you get here?" he asked as he faced her, retiring his pose.

"I've been here this whole time! I was talking to Tsubaki-chan if you hadn't noticed," Maka was obviously irritated at him. He had completely interrupted a private conversation. She looked over at Tsubaki and saw that her face was practically a tomato. _Oh no, did he hear her?_

Black Star quickly turned to Tsubaki, ignoring Maka, and grabbed her by the wrist. "Come on, Tsubaki! We need to go train so that I can make you into the strongest weapon and so that I can surpass God!" he said excitedly and started for the training grounds dragging Tsubaki along helplessly behind him.

Maka sighed, "He's too much of an idiot to listen to anyone else. I don't think he heard her though. She surprised me, I wasn't expecting that."

"Wasn't expecting what?" a voice asked. Maka looked to where Black Star had come from and saw her partner, Soul Eater Evans, walking towards her. Soul had his hands in his pockets and had a bored look on his face. He was obviously attempting to look cool as usual.

"What're you doing here?" she asked him as he stopped in front of her.

"Well, I was hanging out with Black Star when he suddenly spotted Tsubaki and took off," he explained, "What was it that you weren't expecting?"

"Nothing," she said as she crossed her arms and turned her head away in a frown. However, she made a realization. "Wait, you were with Black Star? Why didn't you stop him from suddenly interrupting us like that?"

"He took off before I could stop him," he said as he shrugged a shoulder and looked to one side. Maka sighed heavily, giving up a meaningless fight. She looked to where the two disappeared. _So Tsubaki likes Black Star? This should be an interesting ride…_


	2. Hot Springs

**Sorry it took so long for me to update I was having the hardest time writing it for some reason. Anyways, here it is! Chapter 2!**

**Chapter 2: Hot Springs**

Tsubaki was whisked away forcibly to the training grounds by none other than her partner Black Star of course. He had totally caught her off guard when he had grabbed her away from Maka when they were talking beneath the tree in front of the school. She's gotten used to being taken away like this. This was pretty much how the two traveled nowadays. It was almost no use to try and stop Black Star when he's got his mind set on something.

They had started their training on the grounds here about two hours ago. Tsubaki currently, was in her twin scythes as her weapon form. The two were practicing the Trap Star on a dummy they had found laying nearby. Black Star has been attempting to perfect this technique for nearly a month now and they were very close to getting it. Tsubaki had lost count on how many times they had practiced this attack. Right now, Black Star was in the middle of yet another attack. He had stopped breathing so that he could focus on the victim and not even three seconds later, he had the dummy caught and completely tied up with no way to escape.

"That was great, Black Star! It was perfect this time!" Tsubaki said excitedly when he finished. "We finally got it!"

"Haha! Of course it was perfect! I am going to surpass God after all," he replied grinning from ear to ear with his arms like Superman.

Tsubaki smiled happily both because of the fact that they had finally perfected the Trap Star and because she loved that confidence of his. It was something she wished she could have herself. Tsubaki changed back into her human form and looked to Black Star to ask what they were going to do next but she smiled instead. Black Star still had that stupid grin on his face that she absolutely adored. She couldn't help it. He looked so cute like that; how could you say no to that kind of face? His smile inspired her to become more confident like him. He was so much like a child; having no worries and believing that life would be a cakewalk. Tsubaki was lost in Black Star's smile so she almost didn't notice that he had walked up to her.

"Alright, that's good for now, Tsubaki. Since we perfected the Trap Star, why don't we treat ourselves and go to the hot springs?" he suggested a little more excitedly than he should have been.

"I don't know if that's such a good idea, Black Star," Tsubaki said very unsure at the idea, "Remember the last time we went to the hot springs? I caught you peeking over to the girls side."

"I promise I won't do anything this time Tsubaki! Now let's go!" Black Star yelled happily like a little child with a brand new toy, and ran off towards the hot springs. Tsubaki sighed and shook her head as she began to follow him.

Even though Black Star had gotten a pretty big head start she caught up to him soon enough and they continued on their way to their mini vacation. When they both turned around the corner Tsubaki saw two people walking perpendicular to them. The figures were Maka and Soul; they were talking to each other when she spotted them. Tsubaki tried to wave to them but they didn't see her so she called out to Maka. But they were too far away for them to hear her so Black Star took the liberty upon himself to do the honors for her by calling Maka.

"Oh! Black Star! Tsubaki-chan!" Maka said happily and the two pairs met up with each other, "What are you guys up to?"

"We just perfected our Trap Star!" Black Star yelled excitedly as he jumped into the air. He landed on the ground and gave the two a big thumbs up. Maka rolled her eyes as Tsubaki giggled at him and explained to their friends in a better fashion as to where they were going.

"Black Star decided that we should to go to the hot springs so that we can relax for the afternoon as a way to celebrate our accomplishment. Do you guys want to come with us?" Tsubaki offered with a smile. She's always liked having some company at the springs rather than being alone. It felt awkward to her. Besides maybe she could talk more with Maka about her current situation.

Maka looked at Soul for confirmation. He had a bored look on his face and just shrugged his shoulders as if he was saying that he had nothing better to do. Maka turned back to Tsubaki and grinned. "Sure. Sounds like fun,"

Tsubaki barely got a chance to sit down in the steaming hot water before Maka laid her thoughts on her. " So you like Black Star, Tsubaki? You kinda got me worried earlier, you know. You were getting so worked up just about that." Tsubaki immediately turned red at the mention of Black Star. She knew that it was coming but that still didn't stop her face from showing otherwise.

"I-I know, I'm sorry I worried you like that. It's just . . . it was difficult for me to say for some reason . . ." she said as she tensed up again and lowered even more into the water to hide her blush even if it was just a little. The water was all the way up to her nose by the time she stopped sinking. There was just enough room between the water and her nose for her to be able to breathe.

Maka smiled, almost giggling at her reaction, "It's okay Tsubaki-chan. So when are you going to tell him?"

Meanwhile, over on the boys' side…

"Hey Soul, come with me," Black Star said as he grabbed Soul's wrist and dragged him out of the soothing water whether he wanted to or not.

"H-hey, where are we going?" Soul asked. As soon as he asked that he realized the direction that Black Star dragged him to. "You're not…"

"Hell yea!" he said excitedly and he started climbing the fence that separated the girls' hot spring area from the boys' hot spring area.

"Didn't Tsubaki catch you the last time you tried to do this?" Soul warned.

"She won't catch me this time," he smiled mischievously as he narrowed his eyes.

"Why don't you tell him after you guys are done training tomorrow?" Maka suggested. She really wanted Tsubaki to tell him soon before someone else hurt her. Maka was more afraid of another girl would come and take him even if Black Star is a hyper spastic moron.

"? Won't that be a little random?" Tsubaki countered. She still seemed really uncomfortable with the idea of telling Black Star.

"No, not at all. You just have to bring it up the right way,"

"How do I do that?" Tsubaki asked confused.

"…Good question," Maka smiled.

"…You don't know? …Huh? What is that?" Something moving by the fence had caught Tsubaki's eye just above Maka's head. She looked up and saw the tip of a blue spike of hair just peeking over the edge of the barrier. She sighed at the sight of it. "Hold on a second, Maka-chan."

"Hehehe, almost there." Black Star said to himself as he inched his way to the top of the twenty-foot tall hurdle. He pulled himself up to get a look, but before he could see anything worthwhile he was thrown back onto his spine with blood running down his face.

"Gah!" he yelled trying to stop bleeding. He went to apply pressure to the wound to get it to stop but he ended up making it worse by pushing the shuriken even further into his forehead. He seemed to forget that the culprit was still there. Soul walked over and leaned over the bleeding Black Star, blocking the sun from his face, in his newly found towel.

"She caught you again. Not cool."

"Sorry Maka-chan. Even though he promised he wouldn't peek, he looked anyway," Tsubaki said apologetically as she held a shuriken in one hand, ready to throw at anytime.

"It's alright. I'm sure you stopped him before he saw any of us," she replied, "I just can't see how you like that guy. He is such a pervert. And a moron,"

"Well, other than peeking, I think he's really awesome. I just love the confidence that he has. I wish that I could be like that. It's like he doesn't have any doubt in himself at all,"

"Why don't you tell him that? That'll get the conversation going," she suggested.

"But-but-"

"Tsubaki-chan. If you want to be with him, then you're going to have to tell him. He'll never know if you never tell him," Maka said, as she got more comfortable in her spot.

"I know that but-"

"No more buts. Just tell Black Star that you like him. Start off by complimenting on what you like about him. Like how you were saying that you like his confidence. You never know, maybe he'll get the picture and say something first."

"What? Did he-?" Tsubaki panicked as she jumped up a little turning even redder than she was before.

Maka shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly. "It's just a thought."

"…" Tsubaki dropped back down in the water still tense but less freaked out.

"It'll be alright, Tsubaki-chan." Maka said as she turned to Tsubaki and put a hand on her shoulder.

"But I don't want to ruin our friendship if he…if he rejects me," Tsubaki told Maka as she got quieter and quieter with each word.

"Well, if he does reject you, then I'll clobber him with my Maka Chop," she smiled. Maka held her arm up and grabbed her biceps as she closed one eye. "Now, let's get out of the water before we get too dizzy. Especially you, you're already red as my dad's hair," she joked.

Tsubaki gave a small smile and followed Maka out of the steaming water grabbing a towel as she stepped out. _Maybe…Maybe I will tell him tomorrow…I have to tell him at some point…I just hope I find the right time to do it though…_

Tsubaki finished covering up herself when she turned and threw her remaining shuriken behind her, back at the top of the fence. She heard a body hit the ground hard on the other side and Black Star's voice yelling in pain.

_It definitely won't be when we're a hot spring…_

**Comments?**


	3. Burning Horizon

**Sorry it took so long to get up. It was harder to write than it looks. Anyways, enjoy!**

**Chapter 3: Burning Horizon**

Tsubaki was startled awake by the sound of a crash that came from the kitchen. She quickly sprung from her bed and went to take a look as she slid her slippers on. When Tsubaki peeked her head across the entryway, she saw Black Star doing something in front of the stove. Ingredients were strewn all across the floor and the walls; everywhere she looked there was splotches of food, spices, and black things that she didn't even want to know what they were. _Do I even dare to look?_ Tsubaki thought with disdain. She closed her eyes and hesitated before she looked up at the ceiling. There were splatters of some strange, almost alive looking items, that seemed to be crawling above Black Star's head.

"Good morning, Tsubaki! Look! I'm making eggs!" he said and tilted the frying pan to show Tsubaki little golden blobs that almost seemed to want to escape from their fiery death. Suddenly the eggs looked like they were starting to expand. Tsubaki looked a little harder and noticed that they seemed to be expanding because, well, they were. Tsubaki took cover behind the wall just before the eggs completely exploded in Black Star's face and the rest of the kitchen. Tsubaki was still behind the wall when she heard Black Star say, "Dang it! Not again!" She peeked in again and saw him staring angrily at the pan like he was going to kill the inanimate object.

"Black Star! What happened in here?" Tsubaki asked completely shocked at the sight of the room. She walked into the kitchen and up to Black Star. She went up to him and took the pan away as she turned off the burner on the stove. She looked at him with her 'You're in big trouble' face.

"I was cooking breakfast. I was hungry and didn't want to wake you up so I started cooking!" he said defending himself, confident as usual.

_Aw, he was thinking about me. _"That's sweet Black Star, but the last time you cooked you almost burnt my parent's house down," Tsubaki told him as she started to clean up the counter with the washcloth that was hanging on the handle of the oven.

"I was sure it wouldn't happen again! Besides, nothing caught on fire this time," Black Star replied as he attempted to get the pan back from her.

"You still made a complete mess of the kitchen," she said. She had her arm outstretched so that is was out of Black Star's reach. "Don't worry, I'll cook breakfast. Go ahead and get cleaned up. You have egg…or something all over your face,"

"But you always make breakfast!" he whined completely ignoring her advice.

"I know, but I like cooking that's why I do it. If the same thing happens again just wake me up, I won't mind fixing breakfast," Tsubaki smiled at him. She put the pan down and grabbed a few un-cracked eggs out of the egg carton in the refrigerator, avoiding the peculiar goo that was all over the floor as much as she possibly could. "Now go clean up while I cook breakfast," she repeated.

Black Star pouted before he put a fist on his hip as he pointed and told Tsubaki, "Fine, but you're going to teach me how to cook later,"

Tsubaki quickly turned to him as she was beating her eggs in surprise, "You want to learn how to cook? I never thought you'd want to learn how to do that,"

"Yes! And you're going to teach me at dinner time," he said running off to shower, and get ready for yet another day of rigorous training before Tsubaki could even respond to him.

Tsubaki shook the shock out of her face and continued cooking by pouring her beaten eggs into the pan to make some scrambled eggs. Once she finished cooking Black Star his morning meal, she placed it onto the table and headed for the cleaning supplies that were hiding underneath the sink. She began cleaning the floor first of all so that neither of them would slip and fall in or on the mysterious goo that Black Star managed to get everywhere. It was when Tsubaki wrung out her cloth for the second time that Black Star came back into the kitchen, smelling a lot nicer than he did earlier. "Your eggs are on the table Black Star. I'm just going to clean up and then get ready so we can go to train later," she told him as she moved to the other side of the stove.

"Awesome!" he replied and immediately began scarfing his food down as fast as he could; barely chewing as it flew down his throat. Tsubaki noticed and quickly took action. She stood up and took his plate away as she sighed, "Black Star, you're going to choke if you keep eating like that. I tell you that almost every morning. When are you going to start listening?"

"I won't choke! Can I eat please?" he asked, reaching for the plate. Tsubaki sighed in response and gave him his plate back. He sort of took her advice by eating slower than he previously was but he still looked like he was going to choke. Tsubaki shook her head again and finished cleaning the floor. It didn't take any time at all for her to move to the counter tops that had the same strange substance.

Tsubaki has always liked cleaning though. It's never bothered her in the slightest; in fact, she enjoyed it. When she's cleaning, she zones out and just thinks. She thinks about anything and everything that came to mind. Right now she was imagining about how she would tell Black Star her feelings. She's pictured it in her mind a thousand times over and over again.

It would be right after a training session. Tsubaki would be standing not too far away from a shirtless Black Star while he was wiping down his glistening face with a rag. She would call his name and he would respond with that cute blank stare of his. She'd blush and fidget a little before saying that she had something to tell him. He would step closer asking her what it was. Tsubaki would blush even more and put her head down in embarrassment. Black Star would take one more step closer and grab her chin very lightly and lift it up so that he could see her whole face. Black Star would tell her that it was okay and that she could tell him anything. Her eyes would shift away but then look in his eyes again and shyly say "I really like you Black Star" without any stuttering or hesitation in her voice. He would seem shocked at first but then he would laugh and give his signature smile that simply told her that everything was okay and that she had nothing to worry about. She would join in his laughing and they would hug, just enjoying the fact that they were together.

Tsubaki snapped out of her fantasy, knowing full well that Black Star wouldn't really react like that. Scratch that - at this rate, she would never even be able to tell him. She was more afraid of ruining their friendship than actually being rejected. She didn't want him to turn her down and then things get awkward between them all the time. They were partners; a meister and weapon. If things were awkward between them, they'd never be able to get any more souls for either her or Shinigami-sama. _No. I shouldn't think like that. I'm probably overreacting about all of that. I should just tell him like how Maka said. It can't be horribly bad. But I have to find the right time to say it… Is now a good time? Maybe not...Should I? I don't know…Sigh. All right. That's it. I'm going to tell him sometime today no matter what. I _will_ tell him._

Before Tsubaki even realized it, she was almost done cleaning the countertops. All she had left to do was to scrape the weird stuff Black Star somehow managed to stick to the ceiling, whatever that substance may be. Speaking of which, Tsubaki noticed that Black Star was gone. He was in the kitchen a minute ago. She figured that he was off training outside waiting for Tsubaki to catch up with him. Because of this, Tsubaki sped up her cleaning process by quickly grabbing one of the chairs and began cleaning the substance off. She was surprisingly done within a couple minutes since it was fairly easy to get off.

When Tsubaki glanced out of the window as she was heading for the sink, she found her previous theory to be correct. Black Star was doing some stretches outside in front of their apartment. When she finished putting her cleaning supplies in their proper place, she opened the window and called out to Black Star. "I'll be right out, Black Star. I just need to get ready really quick," she told him. Black Star turned around and smiled replying, "Okay! I'll wait for you out here," Tsubaki smiled in response and closed the window back up again.

She practically ran into her room and tried to get ready as fast as she could without rushing, thus ending up forgetting something. Tsubaki took a quick shower to clean the muck off and got dressed in her normal khaki-based wear. She put her hair up in her traditional ponytail and went outside to meet up with Black Star. He gave her a smile and they headed off together.

"Yahoo!" Black Star yelled as he jumped into the air after their very successful training session. Tsubaki giggled at him. He was holding her in her twin scythe form. They had spent almost the rest of the day training. The two had just noticed that the sun was beginning to go down when they completed training for today. Tsubaki distractedly looked over at a glimmer that had caught her eye in the dimming sun's direction.

"Amazing! Take a look at that Black Star! It's so beautiful," she told him. Black Star turned around to face the burning horizon and gazed upon it. It was the horizon itself, burning with orange, red and, yellow.

"Wow, that's so cool!" he said in awe.

"Would it be all right with you if we go watch it?" Tsubaki asked happily as she began to change back into her human form. She really loved watching nature at it's finest. It really made her appreciate the natural beauty of the world.

"Sure! Why not?" he responded happily as well. He started walking towards a nearby open green hilltop. Tsubaki followed him excited they could watch it. They settled themselves on the top of the hill that was not too far from Shibusen. The two of them sat down next to each other on the green grass. Tsubaki sat down gracefully with her knees to one side with a hand holding her weight. Her other hand rested in her lap as she gazed at the multi-colored sky. Black Star, on the other hand, had just plopped down on his bum most inelegantly onto the ground to watch the horizon burn with warm colors.

It was moments like these that remind her of home. When there were beautiful sunsets like these she would sit and watch with her parents and elder brother. Tsubaki missed those special moments with her family but her brother went rogue, so it wasn't possible for them to have those moments anymore. She was thinking about the fun times she used to have with her brother when she felt a warm object suddenly touch the top of her hand. She looked down and saw that it was Black Star's hand that she felt. She immediately blushed at the sight of it. Tsubaki looked up at him shocked but he was almost lazily staring at the sunset with that big grin of his on his face; however this time he wasn't showing his teeth, he just looked incredibly cheerful. The extremely embarrassed girl quickly turned her attention to the hand in her lap, which was clenched very tightly in a fist. She figured that it was an accident and that he didn't realize that he had put it there. She blushed like a newly blossomed cherry. _Now! I need to tell him now! I don't care if it's an accident that his hand is on mine. Now's the only chance I can tell him!_

"Bl-Black Star?" Tsubaki stuttered as she continued to stare down at her hand.

"Hm?" he asked confused. He turned to her with the cutest puzzled face. His mouth was open just slightly, which made it all the more adorable. It made Tsubaki blush even more.

"There…there's something I want to tell you…" she said, looking up at him ever so slowly. She met finally eyes with him when he responded, "What is it, Tsubaki?"

"Um, well you see…um," she sat for a moment contemplating how she was going to tell him. She was so frustrated at herself for not figuring something out before she spoke.

"Hm? Is something wrong?" Black Star asked in his own way of expressing concern, which was a cross between a statement and a question.

"No! No, it's just…I…sigh," Tsubaki paused for a moment to gather whatever courage she could manage before saying, "…I-I like you Black Star," She looked down slowly almost as if she were confessing to a serious crime.

"Huh? …Hahaha! Of course you like me! I am the Great Black Star!" he said laughed confidently.

Tsubaki's head jerked up in shock. She hadn't expected him to say something like that but then again it was Black Star we are talking about here. He's known to be occasionally unpredictable, especially when he goes to jump off of the top of buildings. Tsubaki sighed after her shock wore off.

"Black Star… That's…That's not what I mean…What I mean is…I…I really like you. As in like you like you…a lot," Tsubaki explained to him shyly.

"Because I'm the Amazing Black Star! Why wouldn't you like me?" he replied as if any other answer were strange.

"No, Black Star. You do not understand what I'm trying to tell you. I _like_ you," she said emphasizing the word like as much as she could. As she was speaking, she was leaning towards him as if it would make him understand what she was telling him. She was getting frustrated with him now. She was finally telling him and he didn't understand what she was saying at all.

"What do you mean?" he asked awfully confused now.

Tsubaki gave a slight growl in frustration. Before she even realized what she was doing, she cupped Black Star's face in both of her hands and brought his lips to hers. She quickly become conscious of what she just did and rapidly pulled away from him, redder than she's ever been before in her life. "Uh, I, I didn't mean to do that. I-I'm sorry! That wasn't supposed to happen!" she said frantically. She turned her head down and away from him in embarrassment. She heard no response from him so she immediately thought the worst-case scenario. Tears started forming in the corners of her eyes. Tsubaki squeezed her eyes shut in an attempt to prevent herself from crying.

"Tsu-Tsubaki?" She heard Black Star say from almost behind her since she had almost turned all the way around. He sounded like a combination of curiousity and shock more than anything else. Tsubaki didn't respond but Black Star continued on anyways. "Tsubaki, don't be sorry. I'm the one who should be sorry…I-I had no idea that…" he said getting quieter until he just stopped talking entirely.

She slowly turned to the point where her head was turned towards Black Star but not to the point where she could see him. "I'm-I'm sorry Black Star. I shouldn't have…I didn't mean…I'm sorry," she said to him. A hand hesitantly but gently was placed onto her shoulder. It surprised Tsubaki when she first felt it but it for some reason made her feel relaxed even with the given situation.

"It's my fault so stop blaming yourself, Tsubaki. I'm the one who didn't realize how you felt. I should've expected it though, no one can resist me!" he said trying to lighten the mood as he started to chuckle.

Tsubaki gave a slight smile in response, glad, he was trying to make her feel better but she still had the feeling that because of his actions, he was rejecting her. Tsubaki's smile started to fade again when Black Star started speaking again.

"It's alright, Tsubaki. I hope you know that," he told her as he smiled. "Cause I like you too." A light rose color ever so slightly showed up on his cheeks.

Tsubaki faced Black Star completely shocked. Her eyes were almost as wide as they were before. "Wh-what did you say?" she said breathlessly. She thought she heard wrong. There's no way he would say that, right? Why would he? He's Black Star. He only loves being the center of attention; at least that's the impression he gives everyone else.

"I like you. And I don't care what you think because there is nothing you can so about it. So ha!" he said as he stood up almost defensively. He put his arms akimbo and turned his head away in a pout-like way.

"…ha…haha…hahahahaha!" Tsubaki started laughing.

"What? What's so funny?" Black Star asked concerned looking at Tsubaki like she was broken.

"Hahaha! I-haha-I got myself so worked up for nothing! Hahaha!" Tsubaki said still laughing. She was trying to cover her mouth as a strange attempt to make herself instantly stop laughing.

"Worked up?" he asked confused.

Tsubaki took a moment to calm herself down before she started talking. "I was trying to figure out how to tell you and kept thinking that you wouldn't, well, like me back. So I ended up coming up with all of these bad situations between us…Most of them ended up so that it would be awkward between us…I don't want that."

Black Star just gave her a blank look before he started laughing again. "Tsubaki!" he said laughing, "I would never do that! You're my partner! We do almost everything together. Even if I didn't like you like that I would still be the same towards you. Nothing would've changed!" he said happily with a huge grin on his face.

Tsubaki smiled as Black Star spoke. Her smile getting wider and wider with each word he spoke until she could barely hold it in anymore. She started laughing once more as Black Star squatted down next to her smiling as well. She wiped away her tears of happiness before she practically jumped on Black Star as she gave him a huge hug.

"Thank you, Black Star," she said to him still smiling. "Thank you."

After a few moments like that, they pulled away from each other, both smiling. "Now teach me how to cook!" Black Star said excitedly and completely changing the subject. He jumped up and started running for their house impatiently.

Tsubaki giggled and got up to follow him. She took on last look at the horizon before she took off after him before he could mess up the kitchen for the second time today. _Thank you…_


	4. Big Day

**/Sigh Aw man. It's been soooo long since I've written this. I really am terribly sorry that this had taken so freaking long. It seems like every time I add a chapter I'm apologizing for it being late. I'm gonna try and stop that. Anyways, I hope you enjoy this new chapter. I have a lot planned for this story so I hope you continue to read this! =] Thanks everyone! Enjoy!**

**Chapter 4: Big Day**

It's been almost two months since Tsubaki confessed her love to Black Star. They've been a couple since then, though they haven't gone out on any dates yet. The two have been too busy with training. They've also been studying for the big exam that was coming up soon. Since the day that the two watched that beautiful horizon, the cooking has been left up to Tsubaki. Black Star ended up blowing the food to bits that night when she tried to teach him how to cook dinner. She is determined, though, to teach him how to make something in the kitchen even if it's just a hard-boiled egg. It's been hard though because she has been trying to study for their test and also attempting to get Black Star to study as well. Tsubaki's had a real hard time trying to do that. He always wants to go outside and train. His short attention span doesn't fail when it comes to these kinds of things. It's always been like that though, so she's used to it by now. Unfortunately, she hasn't found a good way to make him, or somehow trick him, into studying. Well, today was the day of the exam. It was very important since it was worth a good portion of their final grade.

Tsubaki was sitting in her usual seat in the classroom nervously waiting for the exam to begin. She was also very worried. The exam was supposed to start in a few minutes and Black Star wasn't there yet. Tsubaki began to fidget in her seat a little. Maka, who was sitting in the row in front of her, noticed and turned back to Tsubaki.

"Are you doing alright, Tsubaki-chan?" she asked concerned.

"Huh? Oh yes, I'm fine, Maka-chan. I'm just a little worried about Black Star. He's still not here and we're supposed to start any minute now," she replied and kept glancing at the door. Tsubaki was unintentionally putting the side of her index finger on the side of her lip in a worried fashion. "He promised he'd be here on time today," she added.

"I'm sure he'll be here," Maka said, "Let's just hope that he isn't trying to steal the answers again like last year."

"Oh no!" Tsubaki gasped. She had completely forgot about that. The last couple of years Black Star had tried to get the answers from the teacher's office the night before the big test. Tsubaki began freaking out. She was looking back and forth across the classroom as if someone or something was going to give her an answer to her racing thoughts of Black Star's mischievousness. Maka quickly realized that wasn't the right thing to say to the already concerned girl. She got out of her seat and tried to comfort Tsubaki.

"I-I'm sure he learned from the last time though! S-so he's probably waiting to make a big entrance or something," Maka frantically said with that awkward kind of smile, trying to calm Tsubaki down.

The last time that Black Star tried to swipe the answers, he was sneaking around the night before and snuck into Sid-sensei's office. He got caught by Sid-sensei and was beaten to a bloody mess. The day of the exam he was tied up and was placed in the front of the classroom so that the other students could see what happened those who cheat.

"Yeah. Yeah. I think you're right. That's something he would do," Tsubaki said almost as if she were trying to convince herself. She did seem to calm down a little bit, though she did still have that seed of doubt. There was always that possibility that he would do something that you would never expect. Then again, this is Black Star we're talking about here. He's always doing things that people never expect. He's one of those people who does something completely predictable or something completely unpredictable.

It was only a few moments later that Stein-sensei came into the classroom slightly hunched over holding the exams over his shoulder. He told everyone to quiet down and to sit in their proper seats. Tsubaki's heart sank a little when he came into the room but then the door slammed open, scaring half the class including her. No one was in the entryway. Pretty much everyone was looking there waiting for someone to come through.

"HA HA!" a loud voice called from the other side of the room by the window. Tsubaki as well as many other students looked in that direction. "Black Star has arrived on the scene!" Black Star said with his arms akimbo and gave a big laugh. A wave of relief flooded through Tsubaki when she saw him.

"Black Star, sit down," Stein-sensei said un-phased by his entrance. The boy did what he was told, loudly of course, but he still listened. Before he sat down though he said, "Haha! I'm gonna ace this test because I am the amazing Black Star!" Tsubaki sighed at this and gave a tug on his shirt, telling him to sit down.

Stein-sensei was not amused. "Sit down, Black Star," he said showing a little irritation in his voice. He plopped down into his chair and their sensei began explaining the rules of the exam. They were the same as any other test. There was no cheating or else you fail the exam (and are possibly humiliated), the time limit was one hour and it was pencil only.

"You may begin," Stein-sensei said and immediately you could hear pencils scratching answers down on their papers.

Tsubaki looked to her right to where Black Star was sitting. He was looking at his paper but not writing anything down. He didn't have a pencil. Tsubaki came close to rolling her eyes and grabbed a pencil out of her bag. She hid the pencil underneath the table as she went to poke Black Star's leg with it. He looked and gave that big grin that Tsubaki loved so much. She looked back at her test and started by writing her name on the top of the paper.

"Pencils down," Stein-sensei announced. The sound of clattering pencils filled the room. Tsubaki saw Soul stretch out before leaning on the back legs of his chair. Maka sat still as she looked through her test answers once more to make sure that they were correct. Tsubaki looked at Black Star next and saw that he had a bored look on his face. He was leaning his cheek on the palm of his hand with his elbow on top of the hard desk. Tsubaki immediately thought that he hadn't finished his exam. _Maybe he stopped halfway through like he usually does when he gets bored with a paper…Oh I really hope he didn't._

"Pass your papers forward. When I have all of the exams you can all leave," Stein-sensei said. The students followed his instructions and as soon as the last paper was collected he students immediately began filing out the door. Tsubaki walked out with Black Star. He walked in front of her with his hands folded behind his head. Tsubaki walked with her hands together in front of her. She smiled as they made their way out of the classroom. She actually felt very confident about how she did on her exam.

"So how do you think you did, Black Star?" she asked as she leaned over his shoulder slightly as they walked to the grounds for some possible relaxation.

"Hm?" he asked turning his head slightly back to get her in his sights. "I did perfectly! I am going to surpass God after all! What good is it if I can't master a measly test?" he said and laughed. Tsubaki smiled. _Perhaps I was wrong. It seems like he did finish the test. Sigh…Thank goodness._ The two quickly met up with Maka and Soul who were walking just a bit ahead of them. Black Star jumped on Soul as he through one arm around his neck as a way of greeting. Tsubaki caught up with Maka, who was giving Black Star a most dissatisfied look. She noticed Tsubaki and her expression quickly changed to a smile.

"Hey Tsubaki-chan, how do you think you did on the exam?" she asked.

"Hi Maka-chan," Tsubaki smiled back, "I think I did pretty well actually. How about you?"

"I think I did really well. Stein-sensei almost got me on a couple of those trick questions but I saw right through them. I had to triple checked my work too because of them, so I'm fairly confident that I got a hundred percent," she replied with much confidence and pride.

"That's wonderful Maka-chan! I hope you do get the hundred percent on it," Tsubaki said with a smile. "Oh, which ones were the trick questions that you saw?"

"I believe there were three of them. I think they were numbers 17, 21 and 38."

"Oh no! I thought those might have been trick questions but then I thought that Stein-sensei wouldn't do that…"Tsubaki said sadly as she hung her head as if in defeat.

"It's alright, Tsubaki-chan. You'll get it next time. I know you will," Maka said with an encouraging grin as she gave Tsubaki a pat on the shoulder.

Tsubaki lifted her head and then gave a small smile in return. "Yeah," she said, "You're right! Thanks Maka-chan."

Maka's face beamed, she was so glad that Tsubaki was gaining more confidence in herself. She's been noticing that it was growing a lot lately in the past month. Ever since the day that Tsubaki told her about her confession to Black Star, Maka has noticed that Tsubaki's been gaining more and more confidence in herself every day. Maka was really happy for Tsubaki. It seemed like telling Black Star was the best thing for her to do. She hoped that this continued and one day he won't break her fragile heart.


	5. Results

**Chapter 5: Results**

The day after the exam the students were back in their all too familiar classroom waiting to see the scores they earned. Tsubaki was anxiously fidgeting in her seat just as all the other students were. She wasn't worried too much about her own score; she was more worried about Black Star's. She really wanted him to get a passing grade this year. Black Star was actually on time this morning too, which surprised Tsubaki and the others. He was hardly ever on time to class. He was still making a scene like he normally does but he was still on time. Stein-sensei came in the same way he did the day previously, exams in hand over his shoulder and telling the students to take their seats. He stood in front of his desk and announced that he was going to return the exams at that time. He began walking around the classroom handing the tests back individually so hat no one would be embarrassed about their scores even though the students share their grades anyway. Around the room you could here the moans of failures and the excitement of passers. When Tsubaki got her test back she gave a small smile at the sight of her grade. She earned a ninety-one out of one hundred. Black Star had to wait a little longer than Tsubaki since his test was towards the bottom of the pile. Maka and Soul got their scores back before he did.

"As it should be," Maka said proudly at the sight of her own paper.

"What did you get, Maka-chan?" Tsubaki asked cheerfully.

"One hundred percent!" she replied proudly.

"You never cease to amaze me, Maka-chan. You're so smart! How about you Soul-kun? What did you get?"

"Seventy-three," was all he replied. He seemed content with his grade. It was passing after all. That's all that he needed.

"That's wonderful, Soul-kun." Tsubaki smiled.

Stein-sensei walked over to Black Star next. Tsubaki got a sudden case of the butterflies as she saw him approach Black Star. He handed him his paper without a word and walked off to the next student. Tsubaki attempted to lean over to see his score but before she could see anything, Black Star gave his signature gloating laugh as he jumped up. He put one foot on top of the desk and waived his test in the air above his head. Black Star also had a fist on his hip.

"I told you that I would master this test!" he shouted.

"What?" Tsubaki, Maka and Soul all exclaimed simultaneously in shock. All three of them turned heads to him if they weren't looking at him already. Tsubaki immediately stood up and grabbed his wrist so she could take a look at his paper.

"Oh my goodness!" she gasped, "Congratulations, Black Star! I'm so proud of you!" Tsubaki hugged him in pure delight. Black Star had a slight blush on his cheeks when she did so.

"What did he get?" Maka asked.

"Take a look for yourself!" Black Star replied proudly and shoved the test in Maka's face.

Maka pulled it away from herself so she could take a look at it, "An eighty-two? How did you manage that?" she exclaimed and looked up at him with her mouth agape. "You had to have cheated. There's no way you could've gotten this high of a score without cheating."

"I did not!" he defended, "I am the amazing Black Star, why wouldn't I be able to pass this simple test?" he stated more than asked with his signature grin.

Tsubaki stepped back from Black Star all smiles. "I am so very proud of you Black Star! I knew you could do it!" she told him. Black Star's face was beaming with all kinds of happy emotions.

"Who would've thought…" Soul said with a slight smirk as he turned back to the front of the classroom with his hands behind his head. He started leaning back in his chair again as class resumed.

For the rest of the class time, Black Star didn't focus at all. He was too happy about his test score and kept saying how he was the best and he's God and so on and so forth. During class, Black Star had been sent out of class twice for being disruptive, which actually wasn't all that bad for him. Usually, he'd be sent out at least four or five times for disrupting the class. When class finally _did_ end, the four friends met up as as they normally do now, this time it was in front of Shibusen, where three other friends of theirs were walking up.

Of course, at the sight of them Black Star couldn't keep his mouth shut. "Hey guys! Where have you been? You've been missing my awesomeness!" he yelled.

The small group immediately took notice. Two of them sighed before they met up with the faction. They were two sisters and their meister.

"Hey Kid-kun," Maka smiled, "Did you just get back from an assignment?"

The shorter girl on the right replied first. "Haha! Yep! And Kid-kun was being funny again!" she laughed in that happy-go-lucky way of hers. She was patting Death the Kid's back as she normally does when he goes into his rage/depression. He somehow always ends up blaming himself for being unsymmetrical, mainly because of his striped hair on the right side of his head.

"Heh yeah. The monsters we had to fight weren't exactly the most symmetrical creatures we've seen," said the older sister with one hand behind her head and the other on her hip. It was kind of an embarrassed position for her since she explained Kid's situations a lot of the time.

"Those creatures got what they deserved," Kid spat and turned his head away in a pouting sort of way. Patty Thompson continued laughing in the background since she found a lot of amusement in her meister.

The elder sister, Liz Thompson, stretched her arms above her head. "Well, we better go report to Shinigami-sama. We've been on five straight assignments and I'm totally beat. I could really go for a nice hot bath right now," she said and started heading towards the school.

"I believe Father does owe us a day off," Kid said as he followed Liz with his hands in his pockets. Apparently he as too tired to think about the unsymmetrical monsters from before. Patty happily tagged along after the two.

Before the small company got too far, Maka called after them with a smile, "Hey! We should all meet up when you guys are all rested. It's been a while since we've all been together."

Kid gave a smirk in response. Liz didn't turn around but waved her hand above her head. Patty turned around but continued walking forward and gave a big grin with a wave and a little bit of laughter. She turned back around and continued after the others. That was their version of saying yes. The three then disappeared into the school.

Maka and Soul turned back to Tsubaki and Black Star. "Well, Soul and I have to get home. I have a bad feeling that Blair did something to the house again. We'll see you later," Maka said with an irritated look on her face from the thought.

"Haha! Alright, see ya!" Black Star said with a big grin.

"Good luck you two," Tsubaki smiled. The scythe pair waved and went on their way.

Black Star and Tsubaki smiled at each other and started walking towards their own house. They didn't really talk. Black Star was just bragging about his test score again. Tsubaki was just really happy for him. She was glad to be with him even if she didn't get to say much to him. Tsubaki loved his company. He made the atmosphere happy for her. They were about halfway home when Black Star suddenly stopped and turned around to face Tsubaki.

Tsubaki was confused and slightly worried, "Is something the matter Black Star?"

"We should go on a date," he said seriously. He looked intently into Tsubaki's eyes making her face turn a bright pink immediately. She quickly brought her hands together in front of her and dropped her head between her shoulders. Tsubaki's eyes darted back and forth completely embarrassed from both the way that he was looking at her and what he said.

"Wh-what? Where did that come from?" she asked once she was able to look him in the eye again, which thankfully didn't take long.

"I was thinking that we could go on a date to celebrate my awesomeness," he smiled.

"Oh! Well, sure. That sounds like a wonderful idea," Tsubaki replied with a smile of her own as she tilted her head a little.

That little gesture made pink appear across Black Star's face. He turned his face away in embarrassment. "You know…I never would have gotten that score without your help, Tsubaki." His expression changed as he said this. It looked like a look of guilt. Tsubaki was confused again.

"Huh? What do you mean? It seemed like every chance that you got, you were sneaking off when I tried to get you to study."

"I actually was studying when I was with you. My greatness was just too much for those books though, so I had to give them a break. It's not my fault that they couldn't handle me," he said with a little huff.

Tsubaki giggled quietly to herself. "Well, I'm glad that you did study after all, Black Star," she with her cute smile.

"So what do you want to go do?" he asked happily now that he got that information off of his chest. He almost acted as if his little confession hadn't even happened.

"Umm…how about we go out to dinner since we don't do that very often," she suggested slightly unsure. She didn't know how much Black star would be up to it. They'd be in a restaurant where he wouldn't be able to run around and be loud like he normally does. That most likely wouldn't stop him though since he still does that during school even when he's not supposed to.

"That's a great idea. We'll go tomorrow after school," he replied happily and started walking towards their house once more.

Tsubaki was surprised but glad that he agreed to go. She knew that she'd have to talk to him about restaurant etiquette but she knew it would be worth it. _I'm so glad that I have him in my life. He's so sweet. I just hope he behaves himself while we're there. _She watched him walk ahead of her admiring him for so many reasons. She quickly snapped out of it though so she could catch up to him. Tsubaki appeared next to him. Both were really looking forward to the next day. Just as their house was in sight, and as Tsubaki was trying to think of a good restaurant to go to, something touched her hand. It made her jump slightly but when she looked, she saw that is was Black Star attempting to hold her hand. She looked up at him a little surprised but she found him to be smiling at her. There were traces of pink across his cheeks. Tsubaki smiled in response, her own cheeks turning slightly pink as she gripped his hand, reassuring that she was there for him and that she always would be. It was something that even Black Star understood. That feeling didn't need words to convey. They just knew.


End file.
